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An apparatus and method for a control unit which allows for autonomous, manual and tele-operation of mining vehicles. The control unit has a robust system design to withstand the harsh environment of underground mines. The control unit allows a tele-operator, in a remote tele-operator station, to us

An apparatus and method for a control unit which allows for autonomous, manual and tele-operation of mining vehicles. The control unit has a robust system design to withstand the harsh environment of underground mines. The control unit allows a tele-operator, in a remote tele-operator station, to use image and operational data, joysticks and foot pedals to remotely control the mining vehicle. In another aspect, the control unit provides safety features such as supervising its operation for operational errors and providing status, warning and error information to the tele-operator station.

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An apparatus and method for a control unit which allows for autonomous, manual and tele-operation of mining vehicles. The control unit has a robust system design to withstand the harsh environment of underground mines. The control unit allows a tele-operator, in a remote tele-operator station, to us

An apparatus and method for a control unit which allows for autonomous, manual and tele-operation of mining vehicles. The control unit has a robust system design to withstand the harsh environment of underground mines. The control unit allows a tele-operator, in a remote tele-operator station, to use image and operational data, joysticks and foot pedals to remotely control the mining vehicle. In another aspect, the control unit provides safety features such as supervising its operation for operational errors and providing status, warning and error information to the tele-operator station. rsion Flattened Single-Mode Fibers," Sep. 11-15, 1988, vol. Part 1, Conf. 14, pp. 457-460, London. Cohen L. G. et al., "Loss-Loss Quadruple-Clad Single-Mode Lightguides With Dispersion . . . " Nov. 25, 1982, Electronics Letters, IEE, vol. 18, No. 24, pp. 1023-1024, Great Britain. and said second region comprises a circular section having a diameter of about 126 microns. 13. The article of claim 1 further comprising a frame that receives said plate arrangement and establishes and maintains the mutually parallel relationship between said plates, wherein at least one of said plates is slideable within said frame. 14. The article of claim 1 wherein a front plate of said mutually parallel plates comprising said plate arrangement has an angled surface. 15. The article of claim 1 wherein said plate array comprises three mutually parallel plates. 16. The article of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of bare optical fibers, wherein one bare optical fiber of said plurality of same is disposed within each adjustable-size aperture. 17. An article comprising: a first plate having a first array of apertures; and a second plate parallel to said first plate and having a second array of apertures; wherein: said first array of apertures and said second array of apertures collectively define an array of adjustable-size apertures; at least one of said first plate and said second plate is movable in translational motion to change a position of said first array of apertures relative to said second array of apertures to change a size of an opening of each adjustable-size aperture between a first size and a second size, wherein: said first size is suitable for receiving bare optical fibers, one to each adjustable-size aperture; and said second size is suitable for immobilizing said received bare optical fibers. 18. The article of claim 17 wherein said apertures in said first array and said second array comprise a shape having a first region with a relatively larger opening and a second region with a relatively smaller opening. 19. The article of claim 17 wherein: at said first size, said first region of said apertures in said first array and said first region of said apertures in said second array are aligned with one another; and at said second size, said second region of said apertures in said first array and said second region of said apertures in said second array are aligned with one another. 20. A method comprising: defining a plurality of adjustable-size apertures; adjusting said adjustable-size apertures to a first size that is suitable for receiving bare optical fiber; inserting bare optical fiber into said adjustable-size apertures; and adjusting said adjustable-size apertures to a second size that is suitable for immobilizing bare optical fiber. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of defining comprises: disposing at least a first plate and a second plate in parallel, each plate having a plurality of apertures defined therein; and aligning said plurality of apertures in said plates to define said plurality of adjustable-size apertures. 22. The method of claim 20 wherein said steps of adjusting comprise moving at least one of said first plate and said second plate in translational motion. 23. The method of claim 20 wherein each said aperture in said first plate and each said aperture in said second plate have a relatively larger region and a relatively smaller region, and further wherein said step of adjusting to a first size comprises aligning said relatively larger region of said plurality of apertures in said first plate with said relatively larger region of said plurality of apertures in said second plate. 24. The method of claim 20 wherein each said aperture in said first plate and each said aperture in said second plate have a relatively larger region and a relatively smaller region, and further wherein said step of adjusting to a second size comprises aligning said relatively smaller region of said plurality of apertures in said first plate with said relatively smaller region of said plurality of apertures in said second plate. 25. An article comprising a plate arrangement having at least two mutually parallel plates, said plates collectively defining means for receiving bare optical fiber, wherein, in a first configuration, said means has a size that is suitable for receiving said bare optical fiber, and in a second configuration, said means has a size that is suitable for immobilizing said received bare optical fibers. 26. The article of claim 25 further comprising means for receiving said plate arrangement, wherein said means establishes and maintains the mutually parallel relationship between said plates. 27. The article of claim 26 wherein said plate arrangement comprises three mutually parallel plates. 28. The article of claim 25 further comprising said bare optical fiber received by said means. 29. An article comprising: a first aperture defined in a first plate; and a second aperture defined in a second plate, wherein: said first plate and said second plate are mutually parallel; and said first aperture and said second aperture align to define an adjustable-size aperture that is movable between a first configuration and a second configuration; and further wherein: in said first configuration, said first and second aperture align such that said adjustable-size aperture has a size that is suitable for receiving bare optical fiber; and in said second configuration, said first and second aperture align such that said adjustable-size aperture immobilizes received bare optical fiber by contacting said received bare optical fiber with a rim of said first aperture and a rim of said second aperture. ssion span according to claim 1, wherein the first segment provides low non linearity, the third segment provides distributed gain, and the second segment compensates for the dispersion of the first and third segments. 3. The transmission span according to claim 2, wherein a dispersion condition for the span Dcis expressed by: where D1is a first dispersion coefficient for the first segment, L1is the first fiber length, D2is a second dispersion coefficient for the second segment, L2is the second fiber length; and D3is a third dispersion coefficient for the third segment, and L3is the third fiber length, and L is the total span length, and wherein a dispersion slope condition (D'c) for the span is expressed by: where D'1is a first dispersion slope for the first segment, D'2is a second dispersion slope for the second segment, D'3is a third dispersion slope for the third segment, δλ is a total wavelength bandwidth communicated by the span, and 0≤Δ≤1.0 ps/nm/km. 4. The transmission span according to claim 1, wherein properties of the first, second, and third physical properties are selected from the group consisting of dispersion properties, dispersion slope properties, fiber composition, effective mode field area, Raman gain coefficient, and nonlinearity coefficients. 5. The transmission span according to claim 2, wherein the first optical fiber is a fiber selected from the group consisting of SMF type fibers, SCF type fibers, and NDSF type fibers, having an effective mode field area of from about 70 μm2to about 120 μm2,the second optical fiber is an inverse dispersion fiber having an effective mode field area of about 15 μm2to about 40 μm2,and the third optical fiber is a non-zero dispersion shifted fiber having an effective mode field area of from about 45 μm2to about 70 μm2. 6. The transmission span according to claim 2, wherein the first, second, and third fiber lengths are equal. 7. The transmission span according to claim 2, wherein at least the first and second fiber lengths are different. 8. The transmission span according to claim 2, wherein the first, second, and third fiber lengths are different. 9. The transmission span according to claim 1, wherein the first optical fiber is selected from the group consisting of SMF type fibers, SCF type fibers, and NDSF type fibers, wherein the second optical fiber is a non-zero dispersion shifted fiber, and wherein the third optical fiber is selected from the group consisting of IDF type fibers and DCF type fibers. 10. The transmission span according to claim 9, wherein the first optical fiber has an effective mode field area of from about 70 μm2to about 120 μm2,the second optical fiber has an effective mode field area of from about 45 μm2to about 70 μm2,and the third optical fiber has an effective mode field area of about 15 μm2to about 40 μm2. 11. The transmission span according to claim 1, wherein the first and third optical fibers are each fibers selected from the group consisting of SMF type fibers, SCF type fibers, and NDSF type fibers, and the second optical fiber is an IDF type fiber. 12. The transmission span according to claim 11, wherein the first and third optical fibers each have an effective mode field area of from about 70 μm2to about 120 μm2and the second optical fiber has an effective mode field area of about 15 μm2to about 40 μm2. 13. The transmission span according to claim 11, wherein the first and third fiber lengths are equal and the second fiber length is twice the length of the first length. 14. The transmission span according to claim 11, wherein third fiber length is selected to provide a reduced noise factor. 15. The transmission span accor